Title: Salvation

Author: atlantis child (Command Dynamics), innocent choir girl John and Elizabeth are separated from the team during a diplomatic mission off-world when they are ambushed by Genii. Hope is far and survival is the only thing on John's mind. They must struggle against Kolya in order to keep information from him and to break out of the Genii prison. Spoilers for seasons one through three.

Genres: Angst, Drama, Hurt/Comfort

Warnings: Abuse, Character Death, Drugs, Torture, Violence

Rating: PG-13

Chapter: 3 "Tactics"

Author's Notes: Ha, this chapter has been in my notebook for almost a week now…damn school… Between school and work at the moment, I've had little time to type. But that shall change when the lappy will be accompanying me to school pets laptop I have this LOVELY three hour gap between classes…

John didn't allow Elizabeth to sleep and when he was ready to relent because it had been long enough the door swung open and the Genii marched in. John yelled when they pulled Elizabeth from him and flung her a couple feet away. Her curled up body was the last thing he saw as the Genii dragged him out and then shut and locked the cell door.

Kolya wanted something, John knew that much. The interrogation simply started off as a yelling match and then turned physical and more violent. John was first being held down by Genii and then he had been tied down to the chair for them to beat. At first it was hitting which escaladed to punching and when John was sure Kolya was going to step it up another notch, he stopped.

The Genii pulled him from the chair and took him back down the hall before tossing him back into the cell. John coughed heavily, his chest was bruised severely and he just hoped that none of his ribs had been broken. Looking around, he noticed that Elizabeth was no longer where he had last seen her. Fear started to take hold of him thinking that Kolya had his men take her away. "Elizabeth!" he called out panicked. He stopped when he heard a quiet whimper and turned his head to the corner it was coming from. He could see a glimpse of red and breathed out in relief.

Carefully, John moved over to her. He knew that if she had a concussion like he suspected that things didn't make sense in her head. "Kolya didn't come back or any of the Genii?"

"No," she barely whispered keeping her knees tightly pulled to her chest.

As he got closer, he reached out for her. "C'mere…" he said gently settling against the wall. But when she didn't move, he moved a bit more towards her and pulled her so her head fell on his shoulder and his arm could wrap around her. "It's going to be okay, Elizabeth. I'll figure out a way to get us out of here," he promised and then immediately wondered how he'd keep that promise.

"What did they want?" Elizabeth asked in a hushed whisper.

"I'm not entirely sure, doesn't seem like I was very helpful."

Elizabeth snuggled closer, and sniffled a bit. She didn't even need to look at him to know that Kolya had ordered his men to do more than questioning, "They hurt you…"

John squeezed her a bit, "Nah… I've had worse." And he had. The last time Kolya had used a Wraith against him and he had almost died.

It seemed like months rather than days. Kolya and his men had taken John each time and had tried to liven up his tactics. He had started to use threats, which John didn't like, but also wasn't entirely sure that Kolya would go through with.

"Doctor Weir is dead," Kolya told him.

"You like that one. How many times have you 'killed' her?" John asked.

Kolya just glared before motioning the guards to once again take Sheppard back to his cell. This was the dance he had gotten used to playing…but he wasn't ready to reveal everything quite yet.

The heavy foot falls was a signal to Elizabeth. She'd move against one of the far walls and become invisible as possible. It was a routine that John had told her to do. She wasn't even supposed to check for his newest set of wounds until she heard the lock slide shut. From her placed pressed against the far wall, she watched as John was unceremoniously dumped in the middle of the cell. But when the guards didn't leave and instead more filled the cell her stomach knotted. The guards came for her this time, and they took her kicking and calling out for John. She could see him trying to get up, but the guards had formed a human wall to block his attempts. Elizabeth was scared; Kolya had tried to kill and had killed members of her expedition in the past. She wasn't sure what he had planned for her, but she knew she wouldn't like it.

John's yelling and pounding became fainter as they pulled her along. When they put her in a plain wooden chair with just a light swinging over head, she was surprised that Kolya didn't have them tie her hands. She sat quietly staring at him, "What do you want from us, Kolya?" she finally asked. The last couple of days she had reverted to mostly her normal self. She had been trying to figure out why Kolya had them and why he had yet to bring in his Wraith tactic. Though, she thought that perhaps the Genii just hadn't caught another.

Kolya smiled and neared her. "Cut right to it…where's the fun in that?" he asked.

"No mind games."

Kolya smirked, "I'm playing one now with Sheppard." And he had all intents of holding off on killing her, but he'd let Sheppard think he had for a day or so…at least.

"What do you want?" she asked again.

"Atlantis."

"I won't give you Atlantis," Elizabeth told him. "And my expedition won't trade Atlantis for Sheppard's life and mine." She had a feeling he knew that, and she knew that wasn't what he really wanted.

Kolya smiled, "Sheppard will tell me what I want soon enough. He'll hear your screams and then he won't doubt me anymore."

"He doesn't even know what you want," Elizabeth argued. She knew that she'd be the one easier to break, after all John had been trained to survive interrogations and such. And even if Kolya didn't know about Earth, their cultures or their militaries she was sure that Kolya knew that. She narrowed her eyes and spoke again, "You really don't want anything, do you? You're just doing all of this for kicks."

Kolya smile widened, "See. I knew you were intelligent, Doctor Weir."

"Why us? Why not everyone?" she asked, though she knew that she and John were the commanders of Atlantis and that was a good enough reason on its own.

"Call it unfinished business," Kolya said coldly before bringing his hand across Elizabeth's face."

TBC…